Does this exist?

[markiii]

Guys,

I'm considering a change out of the head unit in the roadster

High on the list of requiremtns are,

Vgood Ipod support
Built in Bluetooth car kit (so it will use the car speakers)
Steering wheel mountable remote available

Alpine seemed favorite but doesn't seem to be able to support the remote

Sony looks good from the remote but limited bluetooth and Ipod

Kenwood does all 3 but it seems I need the £500 double din unit to get it.


so a few questions

1. do Alpine make a steering wheel mountable remote that I missed?
2. Anyone had any experience with Ipod connectivity, whats good whats bad? Especially is the Kenwood stuff any good?
3. In built Bluetooth, any good/bad experiences? Do any of the headunits have noise cancelling? I know that the Parrot does, but this can't use the speakers and cutoff the audio.

needs a good screen if I'm going tobe using Ipod connectivity

oh and before anyone says it, I hate  Bluetooth headsets they never stay put

roll up roll up give me your suggestions?

thanks

[aaronjb]

Pioneer?  Good headunit, good bluetooth, iPod support is OK - I think improved in the more recent headunits over mine, also.

[uktotty]

I have been looking at the Sony BT5000 seems to have all the bells and whistles.

[markiii]

thanks guys,  another thought, I should be able to do number entry on teh unit to acess voicemail commands e.t.c

[aaronjb]

I think that's the pioneer out then - at least mine doesn't do tone dialling, as far as I know (plus normal dialling is entirely via the wheel - no number entering, just scrolling up & down from 0-9! Painful..)

[markiii]

wouldn't be an issue with mostphones but teh work blackberry is configured to keep locking it's keyboard

bloody useless when in teh car

[aaronjb]

Yeah - mine does the same, very very annoying..

You can transfer your phonebook to the HU - although I've not tried that with the crackberry yet to see if it works - which makes dialling via the HU easy, at least.. just not getting your voicemails.

[kanujunkie]

personally Mark i'd scrap the idea of ipod support, its way too awkward to use if you have large music collections, real shame the file structure on ipods is so crap, small collections would be ok. I've got the Alpine KCA-420 and its very slow as well, i'd stick to something like the connects unit where you interface with the ipod directly


alternitavley you could always build a dedicated MP3 in car computer  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[markiii]

connects unit?

[uktotty]

Like this

 m http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/produc ... oogle.html m

[kanujunkie]

connects unit?

 m https://www.connects2.com/c2home.aspx?A ... ookies=yes m

[markiii]

I'm confused as to how that is better?

[kanujunkie]

direct interface useing the touch wheel on the front of the ipod is far quicker

[markiii]

I see where your going, true, unless I get the new Alpine Ipod jobbie with the bluetooth module.

[aaronjb]

Personally I prefer not having to touch yet another device when I'm in the car..

I just set up a few playlists of differing moods or styles of music, leave the HU set to 'Album random' and select a playlist from the remote control on the steering wheel  s;) s;)

[markiii]

also a good point

[filcee]

Seconded Aaron's point of view. I have a number of smart playlists [1] - one of which ensures that my music collection is regularly swapped around (I _do_ like iTunes  :-) :-) :-)  ) another makes sure I try to keep up-to-date with podcasts (cries of saddo! all round  s:-D :-D s:-D  )

I have a first gen Pioneer iPod unit, and a headunit that doesn't provide a full set of functionality for controlling the iPod due to it's limited set of controls.  My routine is to select the playlist I want on the iPod, then stop it playing.  Connect the ipod into the kit, select it as input on the H/U and it then starts playing again.  Once all this is done, then I can drive.  Probably adds about a minute to my setting off time all told, but I never need to touch the iPod again on a journey unless I want to skip forward or backward a track which is the same movement to move back/forward on an MP3 CD or CD, or to manually retune the radio.

Keep it simple is my advice - and I find the best way to do that is to use smart playlists (assuming you are an iTunes fan).

With regard to Bluetooth, I would advise you check the H/U manufacturers supported list.  I have found that either one or both of my mobiles are not supported.  If it is supported, I would advise a trip to Halfrauds or your local ICE emporium to check that it works as required.

[1] See Andy Budd's Blog I can't take any credit for these at all  s;-) ;-) s;-)

[Anonymous]

I can confirm that the ipod support on the new alpine headunits is superb. You need to get the full speed support though or it will be frustratingly slow (from what I've heard). I normally just store all my music on my 80gb ipod and most of the time just shuffle all albums and songs. It's dead easy to just pust the next button.

As for the bluetooth and remote, I've not used either. The higher end alpines do come with a remote, but without some serious fiddleing I don't think it would be mountable on the steering wheel.

[uktotty]

Personally I prefer not having to touch yet another device when I'm in the car..

You really love your car don't you Aaron   s:mrgreen: :mrgreen: s:mrgreen:

[Anonymous]

I was seriously thinking of upgrading (downgrading?) to the new Alpine IDA-X001 RRP £299 or £229 (link below)  

 m http://www.gpssite.co.uk/p/Alpine-IDA-X ... A-X001.asp m

I currently have the Alpine 9831R CD Head unit with Alpine KCA420i iPod adapter which allows me to control my 30gb pod, HOWEVER, it is annoyingly slow as you have to scroll through all bandsalbumstracks alphabetically with the volume knob.

The new Alpine unit does not have a CD player and is designed to solely control digital music via USB (however, it is possible to add a 6 CD changer for around £145).  This is one of the first units to use `Full Speed` iPod control.  It has a large(ish) screen which displays artwork, written information and allows you to search using all of the inbuilt iPod controls.

Excellent review and video below:

 m http://reviews.cnet.com/car-electronics ... 25827.html m

This unit is not supplied with a remote control.

There is also an add-on available for Bluetooth phone usage, however, this costs an extra £130 (KCE300BT).

All in all, this unit looks like a good buy, however, the only thing that stopped me buying it was that some review have said that is not that user friendly to navigate as it does not use the centre `ok` button to select trackes, it uses a button on the side of the scroll wheel, which may cause annoyance.

There only seems to be a few minor annoyances, however, when added up, I decided not to plunge. If i did not already have my current setup, perhaps it would be different.

Therfore, I will be waiting for the next incarnation of the unit to see if some of the features have been improved.

Hope this helps

Dave  s:) s:)

[filcee]

I was seriously thinking of upgrading (downgrading?) to the new Alpine IDA-X001 RRP £299 or £229 (link below)  

 m http://www.gpssite.co.uk/p/Alpine-IDA-X ... A-X001.asp m

There's a thread on this board dedicated to this unit here also.